Most people instinctively avoid conflict, but as Margaret Heffernan shows us, good disagreement is central to progress. In this TED talk she illustrates how the best partners aren’t echo chambers — and how great research teams, relationships and businesses allow people to deeply disagree.

John Zinsser wants us to wake up, and really “connect”. In this eye-opener, John goes out on a limb and challenges the audience to have real connection in this world. He reshapes our understanding of what we truly risk on a day-to-day, to help us understand the need for connecting as a means for growth, and trusting others on the outskirt of separation.

In this CreativeMornings Podcast you can listen to the renowned musician MOBY speak on moving to LA from NYC, creativity, inspiration, and the freedom to fail. You can also watch the recorded talk here.

Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.

If there is one thing I want to teach my children, besides being kind, it’s the importance of GRIT!

Freelance life can be lonely. And it can be tough to get the recognition you deserve. That’s why CreativeMornings and FreshBooks teamed up and launched the Master Freelancer Award. It’s absolutely free to enter, just like every CreativeMornings event.

The winners will officially be able to call themselves Master Freelancers and prove it with a trophy. CreativeMornings will share their work with their global audience in every corner of the Internet. And if you win, you’ll also receive a Bamboo Spark and a free FreshBooks subscription for one year. With all the work you’re getting, you’ll be able to invoice like a boss.

Jürgen Siebert, our unstoppable CreativeMornings/Berlin host just recently hosted his 50th event! All in his free time, with his team of volunteers. You can’t put a price on what he is doing for the Berlin creative community! Team HQ has so much gratitude for him and his team! SO MUCH!

Have you ever attended a CreativeMornings? Or have you been inspired by CreativeMornings talks online or via our Podcast? Then please support this beautiful engine of generosity.

I believe in the generosity economy, but it only works, if it’s a two way street. It’s time for the givers to be heard and supported:

For the last 7.5 years we have been putting on free events around the world: Free talks! Free breakfast! Free coffee! This is only the second time in our existence that we ask our audience to give back. This means thousands of free events around the world, never asking the audience to chip in.

CreativeMornings started because I believe in the importance of meeting face-to-face and that’s what we want to do with our 1500 volunteers from around the world. We are hosting our second organizer summit this November in Austin to get our volunteer organizers together so we can compare notes and learn from each other.

Our volunteer organizers put countless hours into organizing CreativeMornings events around the world, for you, to attend for free and then enjoy the talks online. Please donate to our Kickstarter and help us make this 3 day 400 people gathering happen. In the end, it will come back to you, in the form of even better local events and a newly energized and inspired volunteer crew!

And, if you work for a company that would like to be corporate sponsor at our organizer summit, please get in touch.

(For those of you who have organized events, you realize that the $50k we are trying to raise doesn’t even remotely cover our cost for a 400 people, three day event! It’s just a start!)

What an incredibly moving talk: After Photojojo founder Amit Gupta was diagnosed with leukemia, the community rallied to find a very rare matching bone marrow donor. After recovering, he found himself unable to resume the life he had before, and carrying a secret that took him a year to tell the world.

In this Do Lectures talk, Les McKeown describes the 7 stages every business goes through. Some stages you don’t want to be in. And some you want to stay in forever. This talk was just what I needed on this Monday morning.

The idea of “every company needing to make a seat at the table for an apprentice” really stopped me in my tracks. Switzerland has an apprentice system in place for young folks that don’t want to go to college and the USA is really lacking a similar track in my opinion.